General William
Palmer's dream had been
for his Denver & Rio Grande to grow into a narrow-gauge system
stretching from Denver to Mexico City. The line south from Alamosa to
Santa Fe was a stepping stone on the way to realizing that dream—but
after the loss of Raton Pass to and the conflict at Royal Gorge with
the Santa Fe, and the subsequent "Treaty of Boston" which effectively
ceded northern New Mexico to the ATSF, the Rio Grande turned its
attention to the rich mining territory in western Colorado, with the
intended line to Santa Fe terminated at Espanola.

It
took a third
party to step in and complete the line the DRG had originally planned.
After several financial reversals, the Texas, Santa Fe &
Northern
railroad company completed the line from Santa Fe to Espanola in
January 1887. After a few more years the Denver & Rio Grande
obtained control and the completed line officially became the Santa Fe
Branch. Unofficially, though—well, with the sparse freight traffic on
the line, one cargo that was worthy of notice and consistent enough to
be depended upon was the chili peppers which were grown by the
farmers along the line. Hence the Santa Fe Branch is better known to
history as the "Chili Line".

From
the pages of
the
Official Guide, June 1941

The Chili Line

Denver
& Rio Grande Western RR
June 16, 1940

15

Connecting Train Number

16

7 30P

Dp

0.0

Denver, CO (MT)

T C

Ar

7 15A

11 25P

119.1

Pueblo, CO

T C

3 50A

M 4 30A

Ar

246.9

Alamosa, CO

M

Dp

9
40P

115

Connecting Train Number

116

7 00A

Dp

246.9

Alamosa, CO

M

Ar

M
8 30P

8 05A

Ar

275.5

Antonito, CO

T C

Dp

7
25P

425

Train
Number

426

Ex Su

Miles

(Narrow
Gauge Lines)

Services

Ex Su

8 15A

Dp

275.5

Antonito, CO (MT)

T C

Ar

5 15P

F 8 50A

287.0

Palmilla, NM

F 4 37P

F 9 12A

293.9

Volcano, NM

F 4 11P

F 9 40A

303.1

No Agua, NM

F 3 38P

10 05A

310.2

Tres Piedras, NM

T

3 14P

10 40A

319.9

Servilleta, NM

T

2 41P

11 30A

331.7

Taos Junction, NM

2 02P

12 01P

340.3

Barranca, NM

F 1 25P

12 45P

347.8

Embudo, NM

T

12 45P

F 1 14P

355.8

Claro, NM

F12 19P

F 1 36P

362.0

Chamita, NM

F12 01P

2 00P

366.8

Espanola, NM

T C

11 46A

F 2 23P

373.8

San Ildefonso, NM

F11 16A

F 2 29P

375.8

Otowi, NM

F11 11A

F 2 42P

379.3

Buckman, NM

F11 00A

F 3 17P

389.0

Jacona, NM

F10 32A

4 00P

Ar

401.1

Santa Fe, NM (MT)

T C

Dp

10 00A

Trains 425 and 426
are mixed
passenger and freight trains.

The Chili Line was never a great
revenue
producer, and while it was more direct (by 79 miles) than the Santa
Fe's roundabout route via Lamy and La Junta, it suffered under the
speed and capacity limitations imposed by its narrow gauge
right-of-way. By 1941, a prospective passenger seeking to travel from
the capital of New Mexico to the capital of Colorado could choose to
embark upon the all-day and all-night odyssey shown above. Or, he could
spend a full working day followed by time for dinner in Santa Fe, ride
to Lamy in a new air-conditioned bus, board the eastbound California
Limited
at 7:40 p.m., spend the night, whether in coach or sleeper, in
air-conditioned comfort—and arrive in Denver at about the same time as
the traveler who had embarked on the Chili Line the previous morning.
Not surprisingly, only the most rabid narrow-gauge fans sought out the
Chili Line—and there weren't enough of them to keep it in business.
The Chili Line closed for good in September of 1941.